Persecution of Pink Triangles
Rocky
Mountain Collegian, March 4, 2005
Colorado State University
By Cari Merrill
When thinking of the Holocaust, most likely the first
thing that comes to mind is Jews and concentration camps.
But there is another group out there whose story is
rarely heard. The persecution of gays and lesbians during the Holocaust is not
a widely publicized issue.
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Student Services
co-sponsored David Shneer and his presentation Pink Triangles, Signs of a
Hidden Holocaust.
Shneer, a University of Denver professor, led an
interactive presentation Thursday afternoon traveling though the history of
German law that made homosexuality illegal to how the gay and lesbian
community was persecuted differently than Jews during the Holocaust.
Approximately 20 people gathered to hear Shneer’s
presentation, which focused primarily on the treatment gay men endured during
the 1930s.
Just like the Jewish star was used to identify Jews in
concentration camps, pink triangles were another one of those distinguishing
symbols.
“The pink triangle is the sign the Nazi’s used to
identify gay men when they were put in concentration camps,” said Shneer.
Homosexuality hade been made illegal due to the German
Criminal Code and drastic measures were taken to control homosexuality.
Homosexuality, at the time, was believed to be caused by
genetics or a social problem. The Nazi’s solution to the “problem” was
to kill or sterilize gay men.
Students and other observers had only positive comments
on Shneer’s speech.
“I thought this was a really unique presentation,”
said Rachel Singer, senior psychology major and GLBT volunteer. “It was
interesting to hear what some of the logic was behind Nazi thought and why
they were doing things even though it doesn’t actually make any sense.
It’s interesting to see where they’re coming from.”
Randy McCrillis, director of GLBT, hopes that
presentations like this will shed light on a part of history that is not well
known.
“To raise awareness that there were both gay and
lesbian individuals who were part of the Holocaust and I think it’s not
something we talk about very often,” McCrillis said.
One woman in attendance was part of the Holocaust
herself. Maria Thaddeus was 13 when Hitler came into power. She sees gay
people as fellow sufferers.
“I feel very strongly about the persecution of gay and
lesbian people,” said Thaddeus, 85, and a member of Parents, Family and
Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).
This event during Holocaust Awareness Week was the only
one that did not deal directly with Jews and their suffering.
“I think this is the only event that is not dealing
with Jews which is common and it’s actually the way most Holocaust Awareness
Weeks take shape,” Shneer said. “They tend to be driven by Jewish
institutions and to talk about the murder of Jews, which is appropriate. That
is the primary group that has memorialized this event and so one of the things
to compliment CSU on what they did with this is that they’re starting to
open up different stories.”
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